Archives for January 2012

After last month’s blog, “Costs of Long-Term Senior Care”, I received a few questions of a similar nature. “What constitutes long-term care? Sometimes we want to believe that there is a pre-existing baseline of understanding, but often this is just not the case. So let’s talk about Long-Term Care.

Long-Term Care (LTC) Defined

Generally speaking, long-term care is a requirement, perhaps a required outcome that results when injury or disease keeps an individual from taking care of themselves for a long period of time. ‘Long period of time’ is somewhat subjective, but actuaries have been able to address this in general terms for purposes of providing insurance.

When Would Long-Term Care Be Needed?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tells us that:

At least 70% of people over age 65 will require some lone-term care

Of those who need long-term care, 40% are under age 65

An individual may need assistance as part of the normal aging process, or they may have a medical crisis such as:

Stroke

Multiple sclerosis

Diabetes

Alzheimer’s disease

Rheumatoid arthritis

Vehicle accidents

Any serious injury or illness with long-lasting effects could keep an individual from performing the tasks necessary to sustain their independence. These tasks are referred to as activities of daily living (ADL’s) and include:

Eating

Taking a bath

Getting dressed

Moving in and out of bed

Grooming

Using the bathroom

When an individual needs assistance with ADL’s, long-term care comes into effect.

What Are the Types of Long-Term Care?

Either in your home or in a facility, as stated above, long-term care refers to any kind of support for activities of daily living on a long-term basis. These types of long-term care services can occur at any location, for a person of any age.